UPDATE: Contempt Hearing scheduled for November 20, 2:30 p.m., in Brown Co. Case No. 2015CV769, Dr. Marco Araujo, Cliffton Equities & Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) vs. Ron Van Den Heuvel & Green Box NA Green Bay, LLC
RELATED: Status Conference scheduled for November 6, 3:00 p.m. and Hearing scheduled for November 20, 1:15 p.m. in Brown Co. Case No. 2015CV1066, Ty Willihnganz, Ty Will Law LLC, Savannah Bault, Jeremy McGown, Evolve MTS LLC, Michael Garsow, Nancy VanLenen & Meng Qiao for Return of Wrongfully Seized Property
____________________________
From the Wisconsin State Journal:
by MATTHEW DeFOUR, mdefour@madison.com, 608-252-6144
Ron Van Den Heuvel has not been charged with a crime, but he is suspected of committing theft and securities fraud against several parties, including the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., according to six search warrants the Brown County Sheriff’s Office executed at Van Den Heuvel’s home and businesses in De Pere and Ashwaubenon in July.
The warrants state that WEDC, which is funded mostly with taxpayer dollars, “was a potential victim of fraudulent representation made by Van Den Heuvel.” …
Within days, according to the warrants, “a substantial portion” of the loan amount was transferred to bank accounts for other business entities and used to pay Van Den Heuvel’s personal and business debts unrelated to Green Box.
The warrants allege that Van Den Heuvel gave tours of a vacant building in Ashwaubenon that “was never for sale but was used as a prop” to induce commitments from investors.
He also gave demonstrations of his equipment, but it did not work as he represented, and he claimed to hold seven patents “when, in fact, he holds none,” according to the warrants. …
WEDC had secured a collateral agreement before it released funds in October 2011 that prohibited the company from using its property as collateral in other transactions, but Van Den Heuvel “pledged and re-pledged WEDC’s collateral to other creditors multiple times over,” the warrants allege. …
The warrants draw information from documents provided by WEDC, testimony and documents from a Bellevue-based doctor who invested $600,000 in Green Box, and testimony from current and former Van Den Heuvel employees.
According to their testimony, Van Den Heuvel owed $115 million to the more than 40 family-owned companies he had some stake in, didn’t receive a paycheck from Green Box “because his wages would have been garnished by the IRS and other creditors” and would have employees cash checks made out to them and give him the money. He allegedly used money from investors for things like Green Bay Packers box seats, trips to Las Vegas and $2,000 weekly alimony payments to his ex-wife. …
Van Den Heuvel and his lawyer John Petitjean did not respond to requests for comment.
The WISJ website also provided copies of 30 of the 160 pages of search warrants:
- July 2, 2015 Search Warrants for Ron Van Den Heuvel (30 pages; text below)
Now will the Wisconsin and national media have the courage to also report on Artley Skenandore’s and Oneida Seven Generations Corporation’s fraud, too?
The same fraud that Artley Skenandore wasted over $5 million of the Tribe’s money on via Nature’s Way Tissue.
The same fraud that Oneida Seven Generations Corporation and the Oneida Business Committee and OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House perpetrated against the General Tribal Council to justify borrowing $4 million from WEDC and over $20 million from the BIA.
The same fraud that Atty. William Cornelius, Kevin Cornelius and Pete King III lied to GTC and the City of Green Bay about.
The same fraud that OBC member & OSGC Liaison Brandon Stevens defended when Tribe members questioned it.
The same fraud Fmr. OBC Chair Ed Delgado claimed was associated with “reputable companies.”
The same fraud that OBC Chair Tina Danforth travelled abroad to pitch to other tribes.
The same fraud the the Tribe’s attorneys helped defend all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
And…
The same fraud that GTC defended itself against by voting to prohibit OSGC and its subsidiaries from engaging in gasification & pyrolysis on the Oneida Reservation.
The same fraud that GTC defended itself against by voting to direct the OBC to work with Frank Cornelius Sr. and dissolve OSGC, which the OBC still illegally refuses to do to this very day.
How will the OBC and their attorney Jo Anne House try to defend themselves and OSGC now?
Becuase it’s a fairly good bet that they are going to falsely claim that ‘nobody could have known’ it was a scam all along.
Yeah, right.
The OBC were repeatedly warned but they chose to continue promoting Ron Van Den Heuvel’s con, fraud, and swindle
criminal scheme anyway.
Why should any of them be trusted in matters of ‘business’ or ‘economic development’ ever again?
Suggestion to scribes – Start Here:
More media coverage of Ron Van Den Heuvel’s C.Y.A. strategy
to defend his con, fraud, and swindle criminal scheme:
Despite Ron’s pathological claims that he did nothing wrong (and WLUK FOX 11’s pathetic joke of so-called ‘balanced’ coverage) the text of the Search Warrants posted by WISJ signed by Brown County Judge Donald Zuidmulder on July 2, 2015, are the facts that everyone involved in and harmed by Ron’s crimes must face:
1. Sergeant Mary Schartner, being first duly sworn, on oath, deposes and says, that affiant relies for the issuance of this search warrant upon information and belief, based upon:
2. Your affiant is a Deputy with the Brown County Sheriff’s Office assigned to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Division, and is duly authorized to make this affidavit. Your affiant is a 23-year veteran of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office. Your affiant was assigned to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division as a Patrol Deputy from May 1992 to August of 1995. Your affiant was then assigned to the Brown County DARE program from August 1995 to June 2001. Your affiant was assigned to the Brown County Jail as Sergeant Watch Commander from June 2001 to April 2003. Your affiant has been assigned to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Division as an Investigative Sergeant since April 2003. During your affiant’s tenure with the Brown County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Division, your affiant has been assigned to a position of a Juvenile Investigator as well as general investigative duties.
3. Your affiant’s duties include generating incident reports based on victim’s complaints and follow-through investigation of such reports of criminal activity and wrongdoing.
4. Your affiant was assigned to investigate the potential fraudulent activities of Ronald H. Van Den Heuvel [RVDH], DOB 03-16-54, doing business as Green Box NA Green Bay, LLC [GBNAGB], at 2077 Lawrence Drive, Suites A and B, based on the initial complaint made by Dr. Marco Araujo, a citizen witness, who operates a medical practice located in Bellevue, Brown County, WI. Araujo provided a series of written statements in which he indicated that he was defrauded by [RVDH], when [RVDH] made a series of knowingly false representations to Araujo with the purpose of inducing Araujo to make a $600,000 investment in one of [RVDH]’s business entities, [GBNAGB].
5. As part of the follow up investigation into Araujo’s complaint, your affiant reviewed numerous documents provided by Araujo, which constituted discovery obtained as part of a civil lawsuit Araujo filed against [RVDH] and [GBNAGB] in Brown County case 13CV463. Those documents detailed [RVDH]’s fraudulent statements to Araujo, outlined Araujo’s investment of $600,000 in [GBNAGB], and further demonstrated that Van Den Heuvel converted the majority of Araujo’s investment for [RVDH]’s own personal debts and expenses.
6. In furtherance of the investigation, your affiant reviewed the Wisconsin Circuit Court website (CCAP) as well as records from TLO.com, a law enforcement database, and learned that [RVDH] is associated with numerous business entities as owner, manager, shareholder, registered agent or member. Those business entities include, but are not limited to the following: Green Box NA Green Bay, LLC; Green Box NA Detroit, LLC; RVDH Dvlpmt; P.C.D.I. (Partners Concept Development Inc.); E.A.R.T.H. (Environmental Advanced Reclamation Technology HQ, LLC); Green Box NA; Green Box NA Wisconsin Op, LLC; Patriot Tissue LLC, Patriot Services, Inc.; Tissue Depot; Tissue Technology, LLC; RVDH Development, LLC; Green Box Michigan LLC; Green Box NA Georgia, LLC; Green Box NA Seattle, LLC; Green Box NA II, LLC; Green Box NA Utah, LLC; R&K Development, Inc.; RVDH, Inc.; Tissue Products Technology Corporation; ACQCO, LLC; Green Box NA, LLC; Green Box International, LLC; PC Fibre Technology, LLC; Oconto Falls Tissue Incorporated; Custom Paper Products Incorporated; Waste Liquid Recovery Technology, LLC; Waste Poly Recovery Technology, LLC; PCPC, LLC; Waste Fibre Recovery Technology, LLC; Waste Poly Recovery Technology, LLC; Waste Material Recovery Technology, LLC; Nature’s Choice Tissue, LLC; Green Box International II, LLC; KYHK, LLC; Recovering Aqua Resources; RAR Technology, LLC; Military Waste Recovery Technology, LLC; Waste Fibre Technology, LLC; ST Holdings, LLC; Stonehill Converting, LLC; Custom Forest Products Incorporated; CHAT, LLC; Bold/Spirit Incorporated[.]
7.As part of the follow up investigation into Araujo’s initial complaint, your affiant became aware that several other individuals and business entities may have also been victims of fraudulent representations made by Ronald H. Van Den Heuvel as part of a plan to solicit investment into Green Box NA Green Bay, LLC, and other related entities. Your affiant became aware, through the review of CCAP and documents provided by Araujo’s attorneys, that many other entities had complained about [RVDH] and [GBNAGB]’s potentially fraudulent activities and that those allegations were set forth as part of another civil lawsuit, Brown County case 15CV474.
8. Through documents and information provided by Araujo and his attorneys, your affiant became aware that the [WEDC], a public/private entity operated in part by the State of Wisconsin, was a potential victim of fraudulent representation made by [RVDH] in order to obtain a loan from the WEDC for approximately $1.3 Million. Your affiant made a request from the WEDC and obtained all of WEDC’s documentation of the loan made to [RVDH] and [GBNAGB].
9. Your affiant is aware, through documents provided by [WEDC] and record and documents contained on a thumb drive provided by Guy LoCascio, a former contract accountant for [GBNAGB] and [RVDH], that [RVDH]…doing business as Green Box NA Green Bay, LLC,…made representations to [WEDC] in order to receive funds from them, and once funds were received, [RVDH] paid personal debts with the money.
10. Through your affiant’s investigation thus far, it has been found that [RVDH], doing business as [GBNAGB], did supply fraudulent information in his application for funding from WEDC, based on your affiant’s review of the file provided by WEDC which contained documents and statements, the document provided by Araujo’s attorneys from Brown County cases 13CV463 and 15CV474 and documents contained on the thumb drive provided by Guy LoCascio.
a. WEDC perfected a security interest in all of [GBNAGB]’s personal property as of October 17, 2011. Section 5(a) of WEDC security agreement with [GBNAGB] shows that [GBNAGB] was to keep the collateral free from all liens, encumbrances, and security agreements other than that entered into with WEDC. [RVDH] doing business as [GBNAGB] pledged and re-pledged WEDC’s collateral to other creditors multiple times over, according to WEDC’s documents and statements and the thumb drive from Guy LoCascio.
b. Accounting records provided by LoCascio demonstrated that [GBNAGB] received approximately $1.3 Million from the WEDC loan on October 21, 2011 and within days a substantial portion of the loan proceeds were transferred to bank accounts for other business entities and converted the funds for his personal use and paid both personal debts and debts owned by business entities in which [RVDH] had an interest, but which were unrelated to the business activities of [GBNAGB].
c. WEDC agreed to release its lien on a portion of the [GBNAGB] property when Utica Leaseco, LLC, purchased Stonehill Converting and Straubel Paper, thereby leasing the property to [GBNAGB]. Utica filed a UCC lien on or about September 5, 2013, but the partial release was not secured for partial release until October 7, 2013, according to documents and statements provided by WEDC.
d. Three months later, [RVDH] doing business as [GBNAGB] granted a security interest on…much of the same leased property to Maple Bridge Funding which is insured by Ability Insurance Company, including, but not limited to, Hobema, rewinders, Sintesi, Ocean, and two Bretting Machines, based on documents and statements from WEDC.
e. On or about June 30, 2014, [RVDH], doing business as [GBNAGB], and E.A.R.T.H. granted a security interest in two Bretting Machines manufactured in 1999 and 2001, respectively. The identical machines were pledged as collateral to Manchester Mortgage on May 14, 2014, with [RVDH] listed as owner based on documents and statements from WEDC.
11. Your affiant found that [RVDH], doing business as [GBNAGB], failed to provide documentation, as promised, to WEDC, which would constitute proof of the required capital contributions of $629,000 from a related entity, E.A.R.T.H. … and $5,500,000 from VHC, Inc., and made material misrepresentations to WEDC about actually receiving the money as backing, despite the fact that money was never received. In addition, [RVDH] never listed VHC, Inc., which is comprised primarily of Van Den Heuvel family members, as having any ownership in [GBNAGB], despite the fact that [RVDH] represented to WEDC that VHC, Inc., contributed $5,500,000 of operating capital.
12. Through your affiant’s investigation, based on Marco Araujo’s statements and documents as part of Brown County cases 13CV463 and 15CV474 civil case, it has been found that [RVDH], doing business as [GBNAGB], made material misrepresentations in the course of soliciting and receiving a [GBNAGB] equity investment from Dr. Marco Araujo.
a. [RVDH] granted Dr. Araujo a security interest in Mayfran Conveyor and Ericz suspended magnet on or about April 22, 2011, but then granted Cliffton Equities a security interest in the same property on or about June 18, 2014. On June 18, 2014, [RVDH] obtained more funding from Cliffton Equities for the purchase of Kool Manufacturing equipment. Less than three months later, the same Kool Manufacturing equipment was pledged to Crossgate [Investors, LLC.] Crossgate filed a UCC statement which shows E.A.R.T.H. as the owner or co-owner of the Kool Manufacturing equipment.
b. Your affiant is aware that [RVDH], doing business as [GBNAGB], received a $600,000 [GBNAGB] equity investment from Dr. Marco Arago on or about April 5, 2-11, and within days, [RVDH] used the investment to pay personal debts. Dr. Araujo received 600,000 membership units in exchange for his $600,000 equity investment.
c. Your affiant found that [RVDH] represented to Dr. Marco Araujo that Araujo would be given a mortgage on the Perini Building, located at 3060 S. Ridge Road, Village of Ashwaubenon, Brown County, Wisconsin, which would, in part, be purchased with Araujo’s investment of $600,000. You[r] affiant is aware that the Perini Building was never for sale but was used as a prop to induce Araujo into investing. Araujo stated that [RVDH] along with his wife, Kelly Lea Yessman Van Den Heuvel, brough Araujo to the Perini Building at 3060 S. Ridge Road. They showed Araujo office space in the second floor of the building where the Van Den Hovels said conferences would be held with a white board he utilized. Photographs of the Perini Building are prominently shown in promotional documents for Green Box.
d. According to the statement of Araujo and promotion materials generated by [GBNAGB], your affiant has found that [RVDH] presented [GBNAGB] as a functioning business which produced a product when, in fact, [GBNAGB] was not producing anything prior to Araujo’s investment and in fact, according to the DFI website, [GBNAGB] had been formed on March 26, 2011, just days before Araujo invested on April 5, 2011.
e. Your affiant has found that [RVDH] received Araujo’s wired money transfer into the account of Green Box Detroit LLC on April 5, 2011, based on a wire receipt provided by Marco Araujo. [RVDH] then transferred the $600,000 to his own RVDH Development account and proceeded to make payments for his own personal use; i.e. to [RVDH]’s ex-wife in the amount of $57,777.43 and $19,184.00 toward a Green Bay Packers Stadium box. Other examples of [RVDH]’s personal expenditures using Dr. Marco Araujo’s $600,000 are: $3,900 to pay [RVDH]’s American Express credit card bill; $2,870.85 for payment on [RVDH]’s ex-wife’s house in Savannah, Georgia; $6,409.50 on [RVDH]’s house in a gated community in Florida; $75,000 listed as expenses and loan payment, to name a few. [RVDH] himself provided an itemized list of information about where the $600,000 was spent. The document was used in the civil suit Araujo brought against [RVDH].
13. Your affiant met with a citizen witness, Daniel H. Thames…who provided information and a written statement. Your affiant learned from Daniel H. Thames that through the course of his employment with [GBNAGB] he performed various office and accounting tasks. Through his employment at [GBNAGB], Thames observed that [RVDH] would take investors’ money and use the money to pay personal bills. Thames said [RVDH] instructed Thames to list certain expenditures in such a way as to mask the true use of the various payments. Thames witnessed [RVDH] receive foreign investor money through a federal EB-5 program. The invested money would be deposited into an account for a related entity, Green Box NA Detroit LLC.
14. According to information from Thames and other witnesses, similar to [GBNAGB], Green Box NA Detroit, LLC, is represented as an operating entity, but in fact, it does not have any existing production or even any actual physical location in or around Detroit. Thames is aware of the nature of representations being made by [RVDH] to his investors, and specifically is aware that [RVDH] represents that the Green Box facilities are operational, when in fact, there is no operating Green Box facility, nor does the technology behind Green Box’s purported business model function as represented by [RVDH].
15. Thames indicated that once money was deposited into the Green Box NA Detroit account, [RVDH] would order the subsequent disbursement of the foreign investor money into [RVDH]’s personal account from which [RVDH] paid for his ex-wife’s house in Savannah, Georgia. Thames said [RVDH] used foreign investor money to pay for a Green Bay Packers Stadium box. Thames said [RVDH] would get behind in his alimony payments to his ex-wife. He is ordered to by $2,000.00 per week. When threatened with court action, [RVDH] would use EB-5 money to get current with the alimony payments. Thames said he was instructed by [RVDH] to e-mail the lady at the bank, instructing her to transfer funds from the account where the investors’ money had been deposited to accounts other than that of the investors’ intended entity. Thames said [RVDH] would use EB-5 money to pay for insurance for his current wife and children. Thames told me that [RVDH] would write checks out from the business account of Green Box in an employee’s name and ask that employee to go to the bank, cash the check, and bring the cash back to [RVDH]. [RVDH] would use the cash for personal purchases and, for example, a trip to Las Vegas.
16. Thames witnessed [RVDH] give tours to potential investors, and [RVDH] would make statements which are false, including stating the Green Box process is a fully functional process with fully functioning facilities across the USA, when there are none.
17. Thames said he witnessed [RVDH] write checks to pay bills when he knows there are insufficient funds, knowing that by writing the check, it will give [RVDH] time to avoid payment. Thames related that [RVDH] once sent an insufficient funds check for $125,000 to the IRS. Thames said he has seen spreadsheets of itemized lists, compiled by Human Resources Manager Phil Reinhart, of [RVDH]’s personal expenditures.
18. Thames said prior to October 2014, membership units in Green Box had no specific value.
19. Thames stated that he saw a year-end financial statement which showed that [RVDH] owes VHC, Inc., and other Van Den Heuvel family-owned businesses approximately $115,000,000. Thames identified people and businesses listed on the [RVDH] presented in civil courts showing how Marco Araujo’s investment of $600,000 was spent. Of the $600,000, at least $280,000 was used for [RVDH]’s personal expenditures. Thames has seen tangible evidence of the aforementioned information on the shared drive of the office computer at 2077 Lawrence Drive, Suites A and B, City of De Pere, Brown County, Wisconsin.
20. On April 27, 2015, your affiant conducted an interview [with] Guy LoCascio…who provided a verbal and written statement and also provided financial documents in an electronic format. Guy J. LoCasciao is a certified public accountant who did accounting work for [RVDH] and [GBNAGB]. LoCascio indicated that while attempting to sort out [RVDH]’s financial accounts, he noted that [RVDH] had not filed federal or state tax returns and large amounts of cash could not be accounted for. LoCascio informed [RVDH] if an accounting could not be made, [RVDH] would have to pay the company back as if the cash had been a loan.
21. LoCascio stated [RVDH] had many companies for which he was listed as an agent, president, principal, or chairman. [RVDH] would take money for his personal use from all of his companies.
22. While on site at the [GBNAGB] offices located at 2077 Lawrence Drive Suites A and B, LoCascio saw that office employees would be forced to enter whatever [RVDH] told them to enter into the computer for accounting purposes. LoCascio’s information about employees being ordered to falsify financial transaction information was later confirmed by another [GBNAGB] employee, Tami Phillips, who also indicated in her written statement that she was told to make false entries and with each false entry she made, she would indicate “per Ron” in an attempt to avoid culpability.
23. LoCascio said he knew the [RVDH]’s company, [GBNAGB], received over $1,000,000 from the State of Wisconsin [WEDC]. [RVDH] was compelled, as part of the fund’s disbursement process, to supply a reckoning of how the funds were spent. The document required a CPA’s signature. Neither LoCascio, nor CPA Steven Huntington, had signed the document to WEDC. LoCascio states Phil Reinhart asked LoCascio to sign a prepared financial statement, but LoCascio refused because he was concerned about the veracity of the statement. LoCascio stated much of the bookkeeping for some of the many companies under [RVDH]’s name was in the form of a checkbook register only, rather than accepted accounting principals.
24. LoCascio said [RVDH] would frequently move money and assets, such as machinery, without corresponding documentation.
25. As part of his work as a subcontractor through LoCascio & Company, LoCascio held a partial thumb drive backup of computer-filed financial records. This is common practice in LoCascio’s role as CPA. LoCascio volunteered to share the contents of his thumb drive with your affiant. Your affiant obtained a search warrant to view the contents of the thumb drive. The search showed:
a. Items gleaned from the search of LoCascio’s thumb drive include: Information about inflated valuation of patent and intellectual property that [RVDH] claimed to possess. The values were not documented using generally accepted accounting practices. On the thumb drive, there was evidence of money being transferred between accounts of several business to cover shortfalls. The specifics accounts from which money was transferred will be determined through this search warrant. A chart of banks and the last 4 digits of account numbers were located and can help to verify full account numbers, if located during the search. The documents contained on LoCascio’s thumb drive also confirm his statements relative to [RVDH]’s frequent transfer of assets between business and the conversion of investment dollars and loan protocols into personal use.
26. Your affiant met with and interviewed Steven H. Huntington on April 23, 2015. Huntington is a CPA and was formerly employed by [GBNAGB]. Per documents and statement provided by Steven Huntington, on January 1, 2013, Huntington signed a contract with [RVDH] and Green Box to be the CFO of Green Box and have control of all the money. Huntington did work for which he should have been paid $11,000 but was paid only $5,000. Huntington was promised stock options and a bonus if he remained at Green Box, which never materialized. Huntington provided substantive information about his activities and Green Box as follows:
a. Huntington had worked on production predictions and grant applications. In the course of researching the numbers, Huntington found an investor by the name of Ken Dardis who had invested $500,000 in Green Box. Huntington found that [RVDH] had used $200,600 of that money for personal expenditures, including dental work for his wife, Green Bay Packers tickets, and [RVDH]’s ex-wife’s car payment, among other things.
b. Huntington located another investment of $100,000 from a family estate firm called Dodi Management, LLC. Out of the $100,000 investment, [RVDH] used $73,547.34 for personal expenses, including $2,594.34 for [RVDH]’s personal insurance, $4,000 for [RVDH]’s Bank of America credit card, $45,000 transferred to [RVDH]’s personal account, and $153.65 to Kelly Van Den Hovel’s dentist, Lincoln Dental, for example.
c. Huntington was aware of the $600,000 investment from Dr. Araujo, and was aware that [RVDH] spent $373,515,60 of that investment on personal expenses. Those expenses are mentioned in paragraph 7.
d. Huntington said [RVDH] presented financial information in a civil suit that did not match the QuickBooks accounting data of Green Box.
e. Huntington stated [RVDH] would list assets as belonging to one company and would list the same asset as belonging to a different company the next day. Huntington said the transfer of assets was not recorded anywhere.
f. Huntington, doing work as a CPA for Green Box, did not assist [RVDH] in putting together UCC filings.
g. Both Huntington and LoCascio stated that [RVDH] transferred the titles of two company vehicles, 2010 Cadillac Escalade, black in color, with WI license plate 727VKL and 2013 Cadillac Escalade, white in color, with WI license plate 729VKL which were registered under E.A.R.T.H., to his son-in-law, Patrick Hoffman. [RVDH] did this because he was unable to obtain financing from any local bank. [RVDH] instructed Hoffman to use two Cadillac Escalades, which were now registered to Hoffman, as collateral. Both Huntington and LoCascio stated they warned [RVDH] about transferring both vehicles to Hoffman, as then Hoffman would have to show the acquisition of the vehicles as taxable income. Hoffman was shown as the registered owner of the two Cadillac Escalades for one year before the vehicles were registered again by E.A.R.T.H. The two Escalades are still used as company vehicle, and your affiant has seen [RVDH] getting out of the black Escalade at 2077 Lawrence Drive, City of De Pere, Brown County, Wisconsin.
h. Both Huntington and LoCascio stated that [RVDH] never took a salary from Green Box because his wages would have been garnished by the IRS and other creditors.
i. Huntington heard [RVDH] claim to potential investors that [RVDH] had tax returns when Huntington knew [RVHD] had not filed income taxes in years and he owed back taxes for employee withholding.
27. On June 24, 2015, your affiant conducted an interview of Tami Phillips…who provided information verbally, and in the form of a statement. In that statement Phillips indicated that she began working for [RVDH], at E.A.R.T.H. and Green Box, in December 2010. Phillips left for a time but returned in April 2012 and worked in the Green Box offices at 2077 Lawrence Drive, Suites A and B. While working as an accountant for Green Box, Phillips was instructed by [RVDH] to document financial entries on a balance sheet with numbers [RVDH] quoted to her. Phillips said she knew the numbers were not real because there was no actual business or product being produced by Green Box or E.A.R.T.H. at any time.
a. Phillips gave information that she is presently working at a Patriot Tissue which is located [at] 2107 American Boulevard, De Pere, Wisconsin. Patriot Tissue is also an entity owned and operated by [RVDH]. Per Phillips’ information, Patriot Tissue were paid by [GBNAGB], and employees would occasionally move back and forth between various entities owned by [RVDH], including Green Box and Patriot Tissue. Phillips provided information that there are a number of documents related to the operation of [GBNAGB] located at the Patriot Tissue facility on American Boulevard.
b. Phillips and Thames gave information that one of sorting machines used in the Green Box demonstrations to defraud prospective investors is house at 821 Parkview Drive, Village of Ashwaubenon, Brown County, Wisconsin. Green Box subleases the space at Warehouse Specialists from Little Rapids Corporation, Ron Thiry, owner.
c. As part of his job duties with [GBNAGB] Thames actually participated in one of the demonstrations using the sorting equipment located at 821 Parkview Drive, which is the Warehouse Specialists facility. Thames was asked to utilize a spray on some solid waste set on the sorting machine. Thames indicated that the sorting equipment is not generally operating, that it does not work as [RVDH] represents.
d. It is an essential component of the investigation that the sorting machine located at 821 Parkview Drive is photographed and observed, together with the serial number, to confirm the actual ownership of the equipment and to confirm whether the piece of machinery can actually accomplish the operation that [RVDH] represents.
e. Phillips states Patriot Tissue is the only company owned by [RVDH] that produces and sells a product which generates the only income to [GBNAGB].
28. In the spring of 2015, your affiant interviewed Martin Redecker…who provided information, in the form of documents and a statement, indicating that he and his partner Chris Webb…developed technology to convert waste plastic and turn it into a resin-like crude oil, carbon (ash material) and sun-gas (a synthetic natural gas). [RVDH] death with Redecker to start the process as part of the Green Box waste reclamation scheme. [RVDH] agreed to purchase licenses to exclusively utilize the technology from RGEN Systems (Martin Redecker and Chris Webb’s business). Machinery was moved to Green Bay after [RVDH] made total payments of $525,000. RGEN took that money and reinvested $360,000 in the Green Box Company. [RVDH] told Redecker the $360,000 was going to be used for attorney’s fees and for phase 1 and 2 requirements to close a loan from another source. The loan never went through and [RVDH] did not reimburse RGEN Systems. The equipment had been stored at Brown County Waste Recycling at 2561 South Broadway, Village of Ashwaubenon, Brown County, Wisconsin. [RVDH] failed to continue paying rent to Brown County, so Brown County set an auction for the machinery to recoup their money. Reducer heard of the auction and paid $15,000 to get his machinery back. The machinery was then removed from Brown County Waste and moved, by multiple semi loads, to the Eco Fibre facility, located at 500 Fortune Avenue, in the City of De Pere, Brown County, Wisconsin. Based on information from Redecker and other[s] the machinery is still located at that site. RGEN retained the technology rights along with the equipment. [RVDH] circulated photos of the equipment and showed the photos to individual[s] who could copy and fabricate the machinery, in violation of the technology agreement. [RVDH] continued to tell investors he owned the technology in order to secure financing. In order to complete the investigation into fraudulent representations made by [RVDH], it is essential to observe and document the equipment located at 500 Fortune Avenue because [RVDH] has made numerous false representation about the ownership of that machinery in order to obtain investments and financing.
29. Your affiant learned, from promotional documents supplied by Marco Araujo, that [RVDH] made claims that the holds seven (7) patents involved in the process of waste reclamation when, in fact, he hold none. The patent application for the reclamation technology and process relative to the Green Box operations, which was made August 16, 2012, is now labeled as abandoned. [RVDH] still makes reference to the patents held by Green Box in his promotional documents distributed to potential investors, both domestic and foreign, but a search conducted by your affiant on the U.S. Patent and Trade Office reveals no patents held by [RVDH] or Green Box for the type of activities allegedly conducted by Green Box companies.
30. Your affiant believes the information provided by the WEDC because it is a Wisconsin state-funded agency, whose records are kept in the ordinary course of business.
31. Your affiant believes the information provided by Dr. Marco Araujo…as he is a citizen witness and his statements are corroborated by other witnesses involved in this investigation.
32. Your affiant believes the information provided by Daniel H. Thames…as he is a citizen witness providing information against his own penal interests and his statements are corroborated by other witnesses involved in this investigation.
33. Your affiant believes the information provided by Guy J. LoCascio…as his is a citizen witness and the records he provided were retained by him as a normal course of his work as a certified public accountant working for [GBNAGB]. He is providing information against his own penal interests.
34. Your affiant believes the information provided by Steven A. Huntington…as he is a citizen witness who provided information against his own penal interests and his statements are corroborated by other witnesses involved this investigation.
35. Your affiant believes the information provided by Martin A. Redecker…as he is a citizen witness and his statements are corroborated by other witnesses involved this investigation.
36. Your affiant believes the information provided by Tami L. Phillips…as she is a citizen witness who provided information against her own penal interests and her statements are corroborated by other witnesses involved in this investigation.
37. Your affiant believes there are computers and their associated storage modalities, documents and machinery which will be located at the aforementioned addresses which will give evidence to support the charges of Theft and Securities Fraud.
38. Based upon your affiant’s training and experience in financial crimes investigations, and based upon the knowledge derived from other experienced law enforcement officers with whom your affiant has learned the following traits and activities associated with financial crimes in the State of Wisconsin:
a. Individuals engaged in illegal financial activities often place assets and associated information in names other than their own to avoid detection and forfeiture of those assets and detection of associated information by governmental agencies, and even though assets and information are under different names the individual continue to use these assets and associated information and exercise dominion and control over them.
b. Individuals engaged in illegal financial activities frequently keep records related to financial transactions in mediums that included, but not limited to, text messages, voicemail, email, customer lists, price lists, notes, financial journals, bank account books and papers, notes of money owed/received. These record may exist in the form of actual documents or as data in computer or other electronic devices.
c. Individuals engaged in illegal financial activities and their associates often possess and utilize electronic devices, such as computers, tablets, portable media players, and cellular phones. Such electronic devices often have electronic memory capabilities, and that such electronic memory often contains evidence of illegal financial activities. Such member information also provides additional information to law enforcement concerning the extent of any illegal financial activities as well as identifying other individuals engaged in illegal financial activities with the individual possessing the electronic devices.
d. Your affiant is aware that people in general receive correspondence at their residences as well as their business. Such correspondence usually includes, but is not limited to, utility bills, telephone bills, correspondence, rental agreements and other identification documents. Such items tend to reflect the identification of persons in control of and having dominion and control over the premises, and as such, the items within the premises.
e. Your affiant knows that a compete forensic examination of computers, computer mediums, and other electronic devices is a tedious and time consuming task that requires specialize equipment and expertise that can only be accurately provided by a qualified forensic analyst or forensic scientist in a computer forensics laboratory. Additionally, the time required to precisely examine the contents of a computer(s), computer medium, and other electronic/computerized devices(s) would pose a significant burden on law enforcement resources and would compromise the value of making law enforcement searches as brief and nonintrusive as possible. Your affiant is aware that the equipment necessary to conduct a complete forensic analysis of seized equipment is not easily transported, and there it is necessary for law enforcement to transport items for analysis to a forensic laboratory pending analysis. Your affiant knows through training and expertise that forensics can be a technical, complicated and time-consuming process best done in a laboratory or controlled environment. For this reason, it is typically necessary for law enforcement to seize computers, peripheral devices, and other related digital media and remove it from the search scene so that the search can be continued within the context of widely accepted computer forensic methodology.
39. Based on your affiants search of TLO.com., a law enforcement information site, I learned that [RVDH]’s residence is located at 2303 Lost Dauphin Road, in the Town of Lawrence, Brown County, Wisconsin. Based on my training and experience, business records and information related to financial crimes are often located in the suspect’s home residence.
Wherefore, the said Sergeant Mary Schartner, a law enforcement officer, prays that a search warrant t be issued to search such premises for the said property, and if found, to seize the same and take the property into custody according to the law. Your affiant further reports that she is aware that information contained in and on computer-related components is static and not likely to be lost or destroyed. Your affiant further reports that the forensic examination of the aforementioned items referenced above will take a significant amount of time. Accordingly, your affiant prays for extension of the warrant return times otherwise specified under Wisconsin Statute 968.17 be permitted.
